15 years for stabbing a man to death: 'Julian, your sentence is a crime in itself'

Friday

Jul 11, 2014 at 10:50 AMJul 11, 2014 at 2:53 PM

Heather Yakin

GOSHEN -- A Walden man was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison for fatally stabbing Jean Lominy last year.

Julian Hilliard pleaded guilty June 3 in Orange County Court to first-degree manslaughter, the top count he faced in the death of Lominy, 33, of Bridgeport, Conn.

In November, Hilliard and Lominy had been involved in a fight at a mutual friend's home in Walden. Others broke up the initial conflict, but when Lominy went outside, Hilliard followed. Hilliard hit Lominy with a baseball bat and then, as Lominy got into a car, Hilliard slashed at his leg with a hooked knife. The blade sank into Lominy's calf, cutting through an artery. Lominy bled to death within minutes.

Lominy's cousin and mother spoke at the sentencing.

"Julian, your sentence is a crime in itself," said cousin Gerlene Call. "You stabbed him, then ran like a punk and tried to get away with his murder."

Call told Hilliard his actions show he is a coward. He left Lominy's three young sons fatherless.

"I pray that God does not show you any mercy, because you did not show Jean any mercy," Call told Hilliard.

Lominy's mother, Nerlande Estriplet, told Hilliard she forgives him.

"Because if I do not forgive you for what you did to me and my family, you will take me down with you, like you took down Jean," she said.

Assistant District Attorney Julie Mohl told Judge Nicholas De Rosa that Hilliard continues to minimize his actions. Hilliard slashed Lominy's head inside the house, and outside chased him up the street with a baseball bat, beating Lominy when he fell. Lominy was trying to flee when Hilliard stabbed him, she said.

"Mr. Hilliard cannot say he was in any way defending himself," Mohl said. "He was the aggressor."

Hilliard's lawyer, Natasha Turner, simply asked the judge to impose the negotiated sentence of 15 years in prison plus five years of post-release supervision by parole.

Hilliard did not speak.

De Rosa called Hilliard a career criminal, noting multiple arrests over the past several years despite his young age.

"Fifteen years isn't enough for this, but that's the negotiated sentence," De Rosa said as he imposed the term. "This case is worth more than that. Based upon the facts, based upon that you've been a blight on the community for the past seven, eight years ... Where did you think you were going to end up?"

More to come at recordonline.com, and more on this story in Saturday's Times Herald-Record.

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